


Talk to me.

by ronzcaby



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Canon Divergence - Four Swords, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Guilt, Inspired by a Steven Universe Song, Panic Attacks, Song: Here Comes a Thought, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (Manga), feeling like dr seuss with these character tags, it's a little vague but the references are there, teen and up only for some swearing otherwise we're cool here, to be fair i was listening to that song on repeat while i wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27954200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronzcaby/pseuds/ronzcaby
Summary: Unity (read notes) has been quiet lately, and their father has started to take notice. Desperately trying to get away, hoping the captain won't worry, they retreat into their room to think. But being left alone - or not alone - with their own thoughts might be worse.
Relationships: Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Shadow Link & Vio Link, Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Shadow Link & Vio Link & Zelda
Kudos: 15





	Talk to me.

**Author's Note:**

> hey so!!! unity is a version of four swords link created by legendoflovely on tumblr and you should absolutely check out their work and their art right this second please their art deserves way more attention-
> 
> anyway I couldn't get the song "here comes a thought" from su out of my head so I thought fuck it let's write a fic about a comfort song what could possibly go wrong so here it is! I hope you enjoy regardless of how silly the inspiration was

Their strange behavior had been noticed pretty early on.

Quiet. That was a word for it. Simple, but impactful.

The hero wasn’t usually the quiet type, always gloating and talking to themself about whatever was going on, and sometimes would even talk to their own shadow- or at least it seemed like it. The folks wandering around Castle Town had taken note of this, brushing it off as a phase of the boy growing up, or perhaps taking it as a way to cope with their harsh adventure. It had only been a couple weeks since Link returned the Four Sword to its pedestal, and for most of that time, everything was continuing on as normal. Link would help around town to continue with building repairs, occasionally lead the Royal Guard on patrol around Hyrule, and of course spend any opportunity they had to spend time with their favorite princess.

Zelda was the first to find out about the name change. “Unity,” they had said, making their friend’s ears perk up. “I think I want to go by Unity from now on.”

“Forgive me for any possible future mistakes,” she giggled in return. “I like the name. It seems very fitting for you.”

“Yeah, fitting for…me.”

It was after that day that Unity grew quiet.

“Link, talk to me.” Their father spoke quietly as he approached, reaching forward and placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. “What’s on your mind? You’d never miss out on spending time with the princess. Unless,” his voice eased with concern. “you’re not ill, are you? I can send Valensuela to fetch you the finest potions. I know how much Zelda means to you, and I would hate for you to be stuck at home from something as silly as a cold.”

The captain would only receive a head shake as a response, the shorter hero turning his back to the other even more than before. The movement was enough to make their father take back his hand, his deep sigh almost echoing in the silent living room, making one of their ears twitch. They reached their hands up to hold their upper arms, as if they were attempting to hug themselves, eventually stumbling slightly to take one step- two steps- three- four- they retreated to their room.

Back pressed against the closed door, Unity brought up their hands to their face and pulled down on their cheeks, doing everything in their power to try and make their head stop spinning spinning spinning _spinning._ They wanted to talk things out with their father, or maybe start with Zelda- no, yell until their throat gave out and punch something to get rid of the frustration- no, let it out and cry for awhile, or find a distraction and focus on the positives- no, analyze all of the details and figure out a solution to the problem- no, they...they didn’t know what they wanted. That’s when they caught sight of themselves in a nearby mirror. One step- two steps- three- four- they were in front of the reflection, watching the multiple colors in their eyes swirl around like mixed paint.

Green. Blue. Red. Violet.

_How do we— I explain this? You know how. No, I don’t. We have other matters to focus on. Oh yeah? Like what? You know what. No, I don’t! Just because we’re a part of the same person doesn’t mean we know what’s going through your head! You...don’t? But I thought— No! Don’t tell me you’re the reason we can’t focus! It is a little difficult to figure out our words when one of us is distracted. But you can talk about it— See?? It’s not just me then! Guys please don’t fight! That’s not going to help us figure out how—_

It was that moment when they noticed something move out of the corner on their eye. Their shadow. Their shadow moved on its own. It waved an arm around to get their attention, eventually putting both hands up and gesturing down, as if silently trying to get the hero to calm down.

Unfortunately, that didn’t help the spiked anxiety. In fact, everything went black…

-

The forced out exhales is what caught Green’s attention.

Quickly pushing himself off of the ground, the leader of the four hurried over to the hero in purple, hovering a hand over his back and freezing up when he heard the other sniffle. “Vi, can I touch you?” He sat in worried silence when the other hesitated, eventually placing his hand on Vio’s back once he saw him nod. “Here, take it easy, lean on me,” he spoke quietly, his voice calm and reassuring.

“I’m a mess,” Vio responded with a slight slur, trying to contain himself and fight back incoming tears. “Forgive me.”

“Shhh, sorry is the last thing you need to be right now.” Sitting on the ground next to his companion, Green allowed the other to rest his head on his shoulder, gently drawing comforting circles into his back with his knuckle. “Talk to me, Vio,” Green said simply, not even realizing he was repeating the words of their shared father from earlier. The only reminder he got was when he noticed Vio shudder at his words, making Green bite the inside of his cheek. “Or don’t, it’s up to you, really. You can just cry if that would help you. Either way, I’m here.”

Blue was the next one to wake up, his eyebrows raising in curiosity when he noticed the pair across the room. “Guys? What happened, are you-” He cut himself short then, his eyes meeting Vio’s and noticing the light from the window reflect off their glossy texture. Vio was crying? That’s not like him. “Hey, woah woah, easy dude,” Blue said, surprisingly quietly as he sat up. Before he could stand up to his feet, another hero awoke beside him, grabbing a hold of his hand and silently requesting help up.

After an eye-roll from his companion, Red was pulled onto his feet and dragged along to the others, both knights returning to the floor to surround Vio. “Oh, Violet,” Red whispered, placing a hand on the other’s shoulder, Blue following suit on the opposite - though begrudgingly. “You gotta tell us what’s wrong sooner or later. I know you’ve been holding back but…”

“We’re never going to be able to talk to Zelda or Father about us if we don’t focus on you first,” Blue continued, his expression serious yet concerned, despite Vio desperately averting his gaze from him. “And quit avoiding shattering like this in front of me, Vio, I’m not gonna judge you. I’m not that much of an asshole.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Please, Vi?”

“No, Red. Not right now.”

“You’ll have to sooner or later.”

“Stop it, Blue. I’m fine.”

“Nice to meet you, fine, I’m Green.”

“Shut up, Green,” three voices spit back in annoyance, the hero in the matching color letting out a nervous chuckle before apologizing, excusing it as trying to lighten the mood.

There was a pause of silence after the three gave in to some chuckles, Vio being the first to break it with another sniffle. “It’s all little things,” he said plainly, his body shivering slightly as tears finally escaped his eyes. He felt the hands on his back and shoulders start to move back and forth slowly. “Quite uh, heh, literally in the sense.”

“The mirror?”

“...Yes, Red, the mirror,” he finally admitted, not noticing the others nod at each other in affirmation. “I hurt him, didn’t I? He wouldn’t have done that if I had just talked to him. I was able to convince him of so many things when I was separated from you three, but I never thought to try and make him see the good things about Hyrule. But...all of those innocent people that lived in those towns that burned down, not to mention the pain and anxiety I caused all of you, I knew I had to act quickly. But I lost sight of the other potentials and didn’t think of the consequences. And it’s...it’s all…”

“In the past?” Green interrupted, hoping that he was able to finish his sentence correctly.

“Well, yes, but...no. I mean it’s all my fault.”

“Stop it.” “Shut up, Vi.” “It’s not!”

Admittedly, it was difficult for the boy in purple to decipher who said what, as they all spoke at once, but he couldn’t help but let out a pained chuckle, leaning more into Green’s shoulder to try and hide his face. “But it is. Everything… Everything that went wrong has been starting to swarm, and I’ve been wondering what I could’ve done differently. Or what if I make another mistake in the future and I lose one of you entirely?” He choked out a quiet sob between words, Blue leaning in to hug him on the opposite end of Green, Red reaching from behind to do the same from his back. “If I had just thought things through like I usually did, maybe then he would be okay and not...”

“I _am_ okay, idiot.”

“I know but- Huh?”

Ears perked up on all four heroes as they turned to face the voice, a dark figure walking forward from a dark corner of the room. Arms crossed over his chest, the dark Link raised a brow and knelt down in front of them all, looking Vio up and down before blowing a defeated raspberry. “Don’t tell me you’re getting all sobby over me, Violet.”

Vio felt his words get stuck in his throat, knowing he’d be unable to give a satisfying answer the other would want to hear.

The shadow only snickered at the silence, leaning forward slightly until his feet were off the ground, his body hovering above it by a mere inch or two. “You know I don’t mind the lack of powers and stuff, right? I mean, I still have _some_ of them which is good enough for me.”

“But don’t you feel weak?”

“Yeah, and? What’s your point, Vi?”

“Don’t you… Don’t you hate it?”

“I did this to myself, dude, and you know it,” Shadow muttered, watching Vio’s gaze meet the floor out of guilt despite his words. “Oh stop it, will you? Sure I don’t have all of my old abilities, but I’m alright, I’m alive, and I’m not going anywhere no matter how much you idiots will try to get rid of me. You don’t have to cry like that. How would Zelda feel seeing you like this, huh?”

“She doesn’t even know I’m here, Shads, or these guys,” Vio responded quickly, a small, nervous smile having grown on his face while he listened. “But...she’d probably tell me I’m overthinking it, and that—”

“That it’s okay,” Shadow continued, a similar expression being mirrored on his face as he sat up proudly, admiring his work while he hovered higher off the ground. “You don’t have to let these little things confuse you with what ifs and other conspiracies. I’m here, Vio.”

“Yeah, they’re just thoughts, Vi,” Green added, leaning his head down to rest against Vio’s. “Just thoughts that you don’t have to worry about anymore. Shads is okay, and we’re all going to be okay too. I’m here.”

“I’m here, too,” Blue said, tilting his head to the side just enough to notice Vio look back at him. “You’ve got nothing to fear any more. Nothing except Green’s terrible, terrible jokes.”

“I know guilt is hard to get over, but we’re gonna get through this together,” Red mumbled into Vio’s back, peeking up from the purple clothing to make his voice not so muffled against the fabric. “It’s okay, we’re not gonna fall apart over these things. I’m here.”

“I’m here.” “I’m here.” “I’m here.”

Vio sat in stunned silence, their comforting words repeating over and over in his head as he smiled. A forced chuckle escaped his throat as he felt the others lean into him more and more, a familiar warmth surrounding the four as Vio slowly shut his eyes...

-

_“...-nk. Link. **Unity**.”_

The familiar voice is what made them open their eyes, though they’d be unaware of the swirling battle of colors behind their pupils as they’d meet her familiar blue. “Z-Zelda? What’s-...” They blinked once- twice, looking back and forth quickly to figure out their surroundings. They were still on the floor in their room - equipment leaning against the nearby dresser, maps and notes scattered on a desk with some still on the floor, a cold glass against their lips and— wait what?

Unity blinked and looked down, realizing that Zelda was holding a glass of water near their lips, making them nod to themselves before taking the glass. “Thank you, your highness,” they whispered, taking a few sips before taking her hand, allowing her to gently pull them up onto their feet.

“Your father heard you collapse, and when you wouldn’t wake up, he hurried to the castle for assistance,” Zelda explained, already knowing her friend would ask what happened. “But...I know you. If you were sick you’d say something,” she started, not noticing Unity avert their gaze in uncertainty. “so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I know you’re always honest with me.” Her strawberry-blonde ponytail bounced as she stepped over to the hero’s bed, gently sitting down on the edge and gesturing for them to join her. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… Talk to me, Unity.” Her voice was suddenly full of concern unlike her previous tone, mainly from having no reason to continue explaining, but also from genuine care for her best friend’s wellbeing. Little did she know she’s worrying about five friends. “I can tell when you’re stressed. You get quiet, and you’re kinda bad at hiding it,” she giggled under her breath. “Teasing aside… I’m here, and I’m ready to listen.”

The hero stood still at first, feeling their feet freeze to the ground as their cheeks warmed up.

_Should we tell her now? No, that seems like a lot. She took time from her busy schedule to be here, and that may take up too much time. Hey, stop for a second. Take a moment and realize she’s here for you. For us. For Unity. Yeah, for us, that’s what I said. I...don’t think I’m ready, though. Neither am I, actually. Then we’ll start small. The little things. The little things?_

“Yeah. The little things.”

Ignoring the confused expression of the princess, Unity offered her a small smile and carefully walked over to the bed, avoiding stepping on their own shadow before sitting down beside her. Though they were distracted at first when she took their hand in her own, they eventually blinked the spiraling colors away, bright, sky blue eyes meeting the similar color of Zelda’s.

“It’s just a few thoughts, Zel, but…”


End file.
